Part 1 - Digital product passport "in your face" to nudge the uninterested towards a more circular mindset?

In earlier blog posts, we have highlighted that:

• Digital product passports mean that data will become an integral part of your product (at least if you want to be able to sell it in the European Union, that is)

• That we expect such a change of mindset, in combination with the availability of platforms to efficiently handle product data and make it easily accessible, to open up for a new wave of business development as we discover how to leverage product data to create new business value and business opportunities. Something similar to the explosion of mobile apps once that infrastructure existed and we became increasingly familiar with the concept.

• Digital product passports – expanding what is your product

• Trust, ease of use and agility: Key factors for the success of Digital Product Passports
  

Could such business development help further the original purpose of digital product passports – circularity?

As we were pondering on behavioural change being the original aim of digital product passports – which is the topic of a series of three blog posts, this being the first – we came to think:

• Such business development, being commercial in nature, will probably be based on "data services that people will be sufficiently interested in to either become more loyal to the supplier or to pay additional money". That is, not necessarily out of care for our environment, as is the original purpose of digital product passports.

• If such data is handled in the same infrastructure as digital product passports (why not do it if it's already there and works well?), it would be a minimal extra effort to fetch some digital product passport data AS WELL, in addition to what the person actually wanted.

• What if that digital product passport data could be presented succinctly in association with the data they really asked for.

• "I wanted to check the ownership history of this item I'm about to buy, but got alerted that the digital product passport wasn't OK. Maybe I should look for an alternative?" YAY! An person who didn't think of weighing environmental concerns into their purchasing decision was alerted to do it!
  

Digital product passport "in your face"?

We're not certain how this could or should be done specifically, but we think about something similar to the energy performance declaration used internationally.

Maybe even more simplified into a digital product passport symbol or logo, presented in a colour indicating the absence of a complete passport 🔴 or another colour indicating the "performance" of the passport in comparison with similar products?

The next level would be to make it possible to click the icon to get fuller digital product passport information, to find out why it has certain colour – and maybe alternatives with a better standing?

Maybe our idea is too wild or unrealistic. Or too early. But wouldn't it be great if we managed to use digital product passport data to raise the awareness of interest for circularity and our environment among those who aren't "sufficiently concerned" already? Because, who will look for digital product passports? Those who care about our environment or those who don't?

More about digital product passports and behavioural change in the two following posts. Why not engage in our community here!

• Part 2 – Will the easy access to environmental and circular information change your buying behaviour?

• Part 3 – How might digital product passports change behaviours among producers and retailers?
  

One way of getting energized?

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